Female precocious puberty, obesity and polycystic-like ovaries

Objective To evaluate the characteristics of obese girls with gonadotropin releasing hormone-dependent precocious puberty with and without polycystic-like ovaries. Methods Forty-seven overweight (> 75(th) centile of the Italian reference data) girls with a diagnosis of isosexual precocious puberty underwent auxological analysis, hormonal assay and utero-ovarian sonographic and Doppler evaluation. On the basis of sonography the patients were subdivided into two groups, girls presenting normal ovaries (Group 1; n = 31) and those with polycystic-like ovaries (Group II; n = 16). Results The mean body weight was significantly higher (P = 0.003) in Group II than it was in Group I. In addition, the patients with polycystic-like ovaries fell within our definition of superobese (>= 97(th) centile of the Italian reference data) in 44% of cases. The uterine and ovarian volumes were significantly greater in Group II compared with Group I patients. The Doppler evaluation showed intraparenchymal ovarian vascularization and low downstream impedance to flow in all patients in Group II. Conclusions Girls with precocious puberty and polycystic ovaries, compared with those without polycystic ovaries, have a higher incidence of body weight exceeding the 85(th) centile of the Italian reference data (obesity).